It felt like coming home, pulling into Bramble Cottage’s weed-free drive. Although Finn’s parents lived close by, Jenna and Finn wanted to stay in the cottage while it wasn’t being rented out, to have a proper mini-break in the place where their romance had started.
Jenna got out of the van and slammed the door shut; the noise sent wood pigeons flapping into the tops of the trees. She looked up at the cottage as she walked along the path.
‘You and your dad did such a good job.’
‘Goes without saying, doesn’t it?’
Jenna reached the front door, now painted a mint green, in keeping with the surroundings. She unlocked it and pushed it open.
The kitchen had been transformed from a set of tired 1970s units to a sleek country kitchen. Extra touches finished the place off beautifully: a new blind on the window over the sink, a vase of dried wild flowers on the table, and a new light shade where a bare bulb had been for so long.
Finn dumped his bag on the kitchen table and looked around. ‘Do you know, being back down here has made me realise how completely mad this weekend has been.’
‘It’s not always going to be like this. You know my life is rarely as glamorous as it has been these last couple of days.’
‘Thank God.’ He pulled Jenna to him. ‘It’s been fun though.’
‘And now we have five days down here to enjoy the cottage like holidaymakers. Lazy mornings, days on the beach...’
‘Sounds blissful.’
‘Even the weather is perfect.’ Jenna went over to the fridge and pulled open the freezer compartment. They were still there from earlier in the year when she helped her parents do some work on the garden. Jenna turned back to Finn and waggled an ice cream at him.
‘For old time’s sake.’ She handed him one, took his hand and pulled him outside and around to the back of the cottage.
It was late September; the sun was shining but Jenna was glad of her chunky cardigan thrown over her sleeveless top. A cool breeze whistled through the trees, rustling leaves and branches, but back out on the daisy-speckled lawn she could still feel the sun.
Jenna sat down on the grass and stretched her legs out. Finn joined her and ripped open his ice cream. He leant back on his hand. ‘Aah, the good old days. I loved working on this place.’
Jenna gazed at the cottage with its neat slate roof, the walls repaired and painted, the sash windows all renewed. The cottage had been transformed from the tired shell of a place she’d first seen.
They sat in silence eating ice cream and listening to the birds chirping in the trees.
‘Do you remember how hot it was that day?’ Jenna wiped the ice cream from her lips and turned her gaze to the pale blue sky with wisps of white cloud. ‘Doesn’t even seem possible now.’
Finn shuffled closer and wrapped his strong arms around her. She thought back to that first brief and unexpected kiss, the way the jolt of excitement had gone through her, along with the desire for him to kiss her again. To know their fates had been so aligned made this moment perfect.
‘I’m so glad I met you.’ She nestled her head in the crook of his shoulder. ‘The scary thing is we so easily couldn’t have. If Milo hadn’t hand-picked me for the film, if I hadn’t persuaded my parents that I should stay here while the place was being done up; if my dad hadn’t clicked with your dad when he popped round to give him a quote – so many factors came in to play for us to meet and fall in love.’
Finn squeezed her tighter and kissed her again. ‘It was one hell of a summer.’
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There are five books in my Romantic Escape series. They all feature different characters and can be read as a standalone book. Alongside A Starlit Summer is Tanzania set The Baobab Beach Retreat, which is available now, and Santorini based The Greek Heart can be pre-ordered. The Amsterdam Affair and The Love Island Bookshop, which is set on an island in the Maldives, are coming soon.
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Acknowledgements
The inspiration behind A Starlit Summer came from the time in my twenties and early thirties when I worked as a Supporting Artist in film and TV. I was on Mad Dog Casting’s books and got to work a few times on the long-running TV series Casualty (which at the time was filmed in my home city of Bristol), as well as the BBC costume drama The Young Visitors, and the comedy Trollied. I was also lucky enough to work on three films. I spent a day in a field with dirt smeared on my face as part of a crowd of equally peasant-like fellow extras for King Arthur; I was a member of an eighteenth century theatre audience jeering at Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes in The Duchess; and in Vanity Fair, I played one of the wealthy ladies who snubs Reese Witherspoon’s Becky Sharp.
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